Does the organizational climate predict the innovation in sports clubs?
| Published date | 11 March 2019 |
| Date | 11 March 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEPP-03-2019-104 |
| Pages | 103-121 |
| Author | Paloma Escamilla-Fajardo,Juan Núñez-Pomar,David Parra-Camacho |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,Entrepreneurship,Business climate/policy |
Does the organizational
climate predict the innovation
in sports clubs?
Paloma Escamilla-Fajardo and Juan Núñez-Pomar
Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences,
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain, and
David Parra-Camacho
Faculty of Teaching and Educational Sciences,
Catholic Valencian University San Vicente Martir, Godella, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of organizational climate (OC) (with its different
dimensions) and type of category (international–national or regional–local) on innovation, also taking into
account the level of competition in which the club participates. This paper also aims to analyze the effect of
the type of category on the relationship between OC and innovation. This could provide new information in
the sports sector and in the organizational area.
Design/methodology/approach –A quantitative research was chosen with a sample of 485 Spanish sports
clubs. The statistical analyses carried out were descriptive, mean difference, correlations between studied
variables and hierarchical regression models, with the statistical package SPSS 23.0 and the macro PROCESS.
Findings –The results showed that there are significant differences in innovation depending on the level of
competition. There is a positive correlation between the dimensions of OC (training, formation, supervision,
resources, safety and overall) and innovation. The OC dimensions that have the highest prediction of
innovation in sports clubs are training and motivation, in sports clubs with regional–local and international–
national level of competition.
Practical implications –This paper provides information on the aspects that most influence innovation so
that one can focus and pay more attention to some aspects over others.
Originality/value –This study contributes to the debate by offering a relationship of CB with innovation in
the non-profit or associative sports sector. This provides organizational and entrepreneurial information to
the sports environment.
Keywords Training, Motivation, Innovation, Organizational climate, Sport clubs, Supervision
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Sport is a sector of outstanding economic, social and professional importance (Gallardo et al.,
2004), which is in continuous growth (Doherty et al., 2014). Sport has moved from a marginal
place to a central place in today’s society, increasing in importance at European level over
the last two decades (Breuer et al., 2015). This has led to an increase in the number of
authors, researchers and professionals interested in this field of action (Coates et al., 2014;
Ratten, 2011), a figure that is progressively increasing.
The study of organizations with responsibility for the promotionand development of sport
is therefore of major importance. However, studies dealing with entrepreneurship and sport
have only just begun to be of interest to academics and professionals. Sports organizations
have traditionally been classified on the basis of their legal nature in public organizations,
private organizations and non-profitorganizations. The existing differences between one and
other organizations go even beyond the sector of belonging, and reach aspects of dimension,
complexity, and ends or goals, going from complex and widely developed organizations to
organizations without a clear structure or organization (Stewart, 2017).
Non-profitorganizations are knownas sports clubs in most countries. These organizations,
with generalbut not exclusive character,are usually characterized by: voluntarymembership,
Journal of Entrepreneurship and
Public Policy
Vol. 8 No. 1, 2019
pp. 103-121
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2045-2101
DOI 10.1108/JEPP-03-2019-104
Received 19 December 2018
Accepted 3 January 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2045-2101.htm
103
Organizational
climate
to the existenceof free decision of the members to participate or to leave theorganization,; the
orientation of itsobjectives toward the interests of theown members (e.g. the organization of
the members);the orientation of itsobjectives toward the interestsof the own members (e.g.the
organizationof the members); voluntary work, despite the fact that in recentyears more paid
jobs have been created for professionals, so that the sector hasbecome more professionalized;
autonomyon the part of organizationsto act and decide freely;non-professional orientation by
not attempting to achieve financial objectives with profitability; and solidarity character
(Breuer et al., 2015; Heinemann et al., 1997),although it is complex, given its heterogeneity, to
establish a single type of sports club (Breuer et al., 2017).
The main internal problems faced by this type of organization have to do with financial
difficulties and the attraction and retention of volunteers (Coates et al., 2014). Such
organizations have been studi ed from different perspectives (economic, so cial or
organizational). Due to the growing importance of sports clubs at the international level,
there has also been an increase in studies related to the importance of the organization’s
performance (Van Hoecke et al., 2009; Van Hoecke and De Knop, 2006), or the involvement of
certain internal aspects of the organization (Bareta et al., 2015; Gallagher et al., 2012).
Sports clubs are a central element in the promotion and practice of sport in Western
societies, not only for their quantitative importance, but also for the fact that they are a
vertebrating and social cohesion element of the first magnitude, and clearly represent the
concerns and interests of the community in which they are found. This prominent role is not
limited to competitive sport, but they are also first-rate providers of sport for all (Lamprecht
et al., 2011; Wicker and Breuer, 2013).
Sports clubs are, in certain respects, subject to the same environmental conditions as
other types of organizations: they must adapt to a variable economic, political, social and
cultural environment in order to develop their sporting objectives and offer (Breuer et al.,
2015). Most of them are medium-sized or small organizations that offer physical activity and
sport, showing a high level of mobility among the sportspeople who make up the
organization (Thiel and Mayer, 2009). In the case of Spain (where the study is being carried
out), the number of sports clubs has progressively increased in recent years, as has the
number of people practicing regular physical activity and sport (García-Ferrando and
Llopis-Goig, 2017), and most sports clubs are small or medium-sized clubs with a maximum
of 300 members (Ferrando and Goig, 2011; García-Ferrando and Llopis-Goig, 2017).
However, despite the well-known importance of these sports clubs for sport in particular and
for society in general, the interest of researchers in the study of sports clubs from the perspective
of the analysis of their entrepreneurial character has not been aroused until recently, and few
studies have focused on analyzing or better understanding the sports associative sector in terms
of innovation (Ratten, 2011). Innovation is encompassed within the broad, sport-related
“entrepreneurial orientation (EO)”construct the latter understood as the situation in which a
sports organization acts collectively to respond to an opportunity to create value (Ratten, 2011,
p. 60). In this study, we will focus on sports clubs, which are characterized by being the
foundation of sport, supporting the progress and evolution of sport for all (Gallagher et al., 2012).
The EO is a fundamental element because it influences both the making of general and
specific strategic decisions and the allocation of resources that favor the exploration and
exploitation of opportunities (Rosenbusch et al., 2013). This importance may be due to its
great capacity to produce employment and wealth (Soriano and Peris-Ortiz, 2011), either
through the creation of new organizations or aimed at the growth and consolidation of large
and small companies or non-profit organizations (Lucas et al., 2018). Along the same lines,
innovation, a constituent component of EO, is an important element for growth (Boudreaux,
2017) and the success of the organization (Ratten, 2010).
Literature is abundant in the study and analysis of the influence of organizational factors
on innovation in different sectors. The relationship between organizational climate (OC) and
104
JEPP
8,1
To continue reading
Request your trial